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How to Make Curtains from Recycled Sheets

comments (10) January 25th, 2009     

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leethal Lee Meredith, contributor
Love it! 21 users recommend
The start of a new year is a great time for some home restyling, and decorating with recycled materials is the best way to do it!
The clip curtain style means it couldnt be easier to change it up!
A super-colorful sheet like this one brightens up a boring, white-walled apartment.
The start of a new year is a great time for some home restyling, and decorating with recycled materials is the best way to do it!

The start of a new year is a great time for some home restyling, and decorating with recycled materials is the best way to do it!

Photo: Lee Meredith
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If you shop for craft materials at thrift stores, you probably know how easy it is to find cool old sheets with interesting patterns or colors. And if you're like me, you've accumulated a ton of them to use the fabric for projects and now don't have the time or project ideas to use half of them! Okay, maybe you're not like me, but you still might have some sheets around the house, or maybe you want an excuse to buy some of those thrift-store sheets. All you need is a curtain rod with clip rings and a pair of scissors to turn a vintage sheet into a cool new curtain!

You'll need:

  • One sheet a bit larger than your window
  • Curtain rod for your window size
  • Set of clip-style curtain rings
  • Scissors
  • Fray Check (optional)

If you find a cool sheet that's much larger than your window, you can just cut it down to size. As for the curtain rod and rings, I got my whole set at Ikea for less than $15.


 A super-colorful sheet like this one brightens up a boring, white-walled apartment.

First, you'll need to cut or rip your sheet in half. I say rip because most old sheets will very easily rip straight across with a clean edge, so I recommend trying this method. Find the center point, make a small cut with your scissors, and pull. Either it will easily tear or it won't; if it won't, then cut straight down the middle with your scissors. If your sheet has some kind of pattern that shows you where to cut, you're in luck (like stripes, plaid, etc.). If not, you might want to draw a straight line to follow so you don't end up with crooked curtains.


 Most sheets will rip with a nice, clean edge.

You can put some Fray Check on the ripped/cut edges if you want to. Now you'll need to install your curtain rod and put the clip rings on it.


 This is a super-basic curtain rod—you can go much fancier if you want, of course!

Clip on the sheet curtain panels with the torn edges on the outsides and the clean edges in the center. Figure out how far apart to clip—either measure and mark your curtain or estimate.


 If you want to measure and mark where to clip, the clips will hide the marks.

I have five clips on each side, so I clipped the two ends, then I eyeballed the middle and clipped there. Then I just eyeballed halfway between the end clips and the center clip for the last two, for five evenly spaced clips.


 The hemmed edges make a nice, clean middle for the curtains.

That's it, new curtains! And since it's so easy to clip them up, you can easily switch sheets whenever you find a cool new vintage one at the thrift store, or when you feel like a change in color scheme, or whenever!


 The clip curtain style means it couldn't be easier to change it up!
posted in: vintage, houseware, recycle, no-sew, curtain, sheet
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Comments (10)

Stile writes: how easy is that! Adding to my collection of ideas for the hard to dress windows in our old house.
Posted: 1:26 pm on January 17th
jansonmc writes: table cloths that are the same work well for this to i was in a second hand store and there were 7 of them something smelly had gotten spilled on them i took them home washed them and put them up for curtains on a window where c hubby complained of the reflection worked wonders
Posted: 1:05 pm on August 13th
HoneyR writes: Fantastic post, I have always wanted to do something similar and create curtains for the room adjacent to my garage. I think with the help of Eyelet Machine the curtain making process can be simplified.
Posted: 6:27 am on July 8th
leethal writes: I found the sheet at a thrift store! It was a great find!
Posted: 2:31 pm on February 7th
Plastic_Baglady writes: I love these sheets did you say where you found them?
Posted: 11:01 pm on February 3rd
Magicgreen53 writes: Those look nice!
I always buy sheets for curtains. I find that sheets come in beautiful rich colors, whereas curtains to me, don't.
Posted: 3:06 am on January 31st
jennys_studio writes: I've thought about using sheets for curtains before, but I don't really like sewing. THis is a perfect alternative - so easy, and I really need some curtains! I'm going to be on the prowl for some fab sheets...
Posted: 1:25 pm on January 27th
SARASTA_IN_VA writes: Seriously, what a great idea! I have a rubbermaid tub of old sheets from a great aunt in these awesome retro floral print but couldn't think what to do with them. Thanks! If I ever get around to it, I'll let you know how it goes.
Posted: 6:43 pm on January 26th
LauraMM writes: Wow - that is pretty easy - and I guess if you want to you can line the back with white - that would be the only sewing you need to do - nice idea there!
Posted: 5:29 pm on January 25th
ohnoshesews writes: Love it!
Posted: 3:14 pm on January 25th
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